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Tsar Vladimir Vasilyevich Romanov I
On December 10, 1744, the rulership of the Tsardom of Russia was officially handed over to 'Tsar Vladimir Aleksandr Pyotr Romanov I '(Владимир Алексе́евич Пётр Рома́нов), also commonly known by his English name as Jeremiah Garland. Mikhail Sebastian Aleksandr Volkov (Roger Decksteel), the previously tsar, handed over the position of tsar after only a few days his predecessor, Andrew Volkov-Mallace I, stepped down. Romanov is best known as tsar for the large amount of land he conquered for the growing Russian Empire, as well as his advancements in culture and technology he brought to the Russian people. Together, these factors would create what would be known as the '"Golden Age of Russia". ' The Royal Family *''Vladimir Vasilyevich Romanov I (Jeremiah Garland) - Tsar of Russia, Imperator of the Russian Empire *''Mikhail Sebastian Aleksandr Volkov ''(Roger Decksteel) - Tsar of Russia, Imperator of the Russian Empire (not related to Romanov) *''Ivan Gershven Domeshev Romanov VII *''Elizaveta Maria Romanova I (Stormwalker) - Royal Family member (daughter of Tsar) Rise to Power Arrival at St. Petersburg In 1738, Tsar Andrew Volkov-Mallace I ascended to the position of tsar. Although British, he assumed the position after the previous tsar had fallen ill and unsuspectedly died. This was due to a famous marriage that occured between Volkov-Mallace's parents, James Malace and Princess Maria Romiv of Russia, the latter of which being the daughter of the ill-fated Tsar. Volkov-Mallace assumed the role of Tsar on June 3, 1738. He made his capital at St. Petersburg. In early 1739, a close friend of Tsar Volkov-Mallace named Jeremiah Garland, decided to move to St. Petersburg. A member of British Parliament, Garland was told to move to St. Petersburg as a British representative for Russia. He soon reunited with his long-time friend, the Tsar, and was invited to become a member of the Tsar's congress. Garland accepted, and was inaugurated into the Russian Congress on March 8, 1739. The same month, Tsar Volkov selected an heir to the Russian throne: his brother, Mikhail Sebastian Aleksandr Volkov. This angered many other members of the royal bloodline, seeing Mikhail was "too young" to rule. Soon, purges brokeout that year led by the royal family members. A long struggle would ensue between the Tsar and his family members. This era would become known as "the Warring States". The Warring States However, despite the vigorous times the Russian government had recently been going through, Garland became quite accustomed to life in Russia. He had learned fluent Russian (as well as several other languages such as Finnish, Georgian, and Estonian), and had adapted a Russian name: Vladimir Aleksandr Pyotr Romanov. He had chosen the surname "Romanov" in honour of Peter the Great, a previous and legendary Tsar of Russia for which the city St. Petersburg had been named. As far as his position in the Russian government went, he was soon given the honourable position of Governor of Kyiv ("Kiev"), a vital Russian city far south of Moscow and St. Petersburg. There, not only did he govern the city and its surrounding regions, but also aided the Tsar's Army as best as he could. He recruited over 4,000 Cossacks (advanced warrior-like people native of Ukraine) to be trained and disciplined at one of Kyiv's forts. In addition, he was made general of the same force. In December of 1742, the Warring States had reached their climax. The rebels, led by Lev Kamenev Volkov (Captain Leon), had seized control of the Russian stronghold of Novgorod, located just east of St. Petersburg and Moscow. There, the rebelling members of the royal family were hidden in a palace, while a rebel army gathered to ambush St. Petersburg, and, hopefully assassinate Tsar Andrew Volkov. However, before said rebel army could go mobile, the Tsar had learned word of this attack, and had readied a massive army himself. The army included the force of Cossacks, led by Garland (now going strictly as Romanov), as well as an elite force led by Mikhail Volkov. On December 20, they marched on to Novgorod to challenge the much smaller force assembled by the rebels. Although much smaller in size, the rebel army, being led personally by Lev Volkov, stood strong against the invading Tsarist army. The battle would become known as the First Battle of Novgorod. Five days later, the battle ended, on Christmas Day. The Tsarist forces had managed to successfully breach the city walls and storm the palace where the royal family members had been hiding. Romanov, having witnessed the executions of the disloyal royal family members, recalled: ''"Despite the triumph Russia had received in capturing the rebel leaders, their execution haunts me till this day. Some were decapitated, their heads put on spits, while others were burned alive, their remaints then taken as trophies by the executioners. It was a horrific scene. The last of the Volkov royal family, save Mikhail and Andrew, were dead." '' But, the last of the Volkov family was not dead. The leader of the rebel army (and primary contender for position as tsar), Lev Volkov, had escape execution and went into hiding. He was found about a week later, in the foothills overlooking the city. Rather than being executed like his kin, Tsar Volkov personally requested Lev not be killed, for reasons unknown to this day. He was sent into exile, though his exact location of exile is not known. Some theorize he is alive and well, seeking refuge in the tropics of India or Malaysia, while others say he has died from freezing in Siberian exile. Either way, him being gone, and the death of the rebelling Volkov family, had brought an end to the Warring States. Becoming Tsar After the end of the short-lived rebellion, Tsar Volkov promoted Romanov to commander-in-chief of the entire Russian Army, for his leading actions in the First Battle of Novgorod. However, Romanov soon grew weary of military life, and on July 11, 1743, retired from that position. He focused more on Russian politics, which he had become one of the best at. Tsar Volkov was so amazed by Romanov's diplomatic reasoning, he made him one of his most trusted advisors. Romanov would soon grow to be known as "the Tsar's Right-Hand-Man", and even lived in the Winter Palace (the same palace the Tsar lived in), with his own wing. For the next year, Romanov would continue to help rule alongside Tsar Volkov. As Volkov began to appear less and less in public, Romanov would address the Russian people on the Tsar's behalf. He soon became an important figure in Russian politics. He had, by this point, completely abandoned his original position of British ambassador, the sole reason he had come to Russia in the first place. In late November of 1744, British dignitaries visited St. Petersburg. Among them was the newly-announced Prime Minister of Great Britain, Benjamin Macmorgan. Macmorgan and Tsar Volkov talked privately for an hour, where Volkov was offered a position in England, as an advisor to the King and a High-Lord of the British Parliament. He was reluctant to simply leave his magnificent kingdom of Russia behind, but was eventually cajoled to serve his true home country. On December 4, 1744, Tsar Andrew Mallace-Volkov I handed down the position of Tsar to his heir, Mikhail Sebastian Aleksandr Volkov Still much too young to rule, though, Tsar Mikhail Volkov personally decided to resign the position of Tsar only five days later, on December 9. He had not successfully named an heir yet (let alone had any family members to name heir, as they were all executed during the Warring States). During this short period, controversy rose about who would be the next heir. Some even said that Lev Kamenev Volkev, the sole survivor of the Volkov family save Andrew and Mikhail himself, would return from exile and would be named heir. The following day, December 10, the heir was named to be Vladimir Aleksandr Pyotr Romanov I, for he was the long-time right-hand-man of Tsar Andrew Mallace-Volkov. The same day, Mikhail Volkov resigned, and Romanov was made Tsar of Russia. Connecting and Uniting the People In the first few months of his Tsardom, Romanov also declared himself imperator of the newly announced Russian Empire. Seeing Russia already owned one of the largest empires in the world, he wished to increase it more, to challenge the size of the massive British Empire. Already Russia comprised of seventeen million square kilometres of land, stretching from the imperial capital of St. Petersburg on the Gulf of Finland in the west, to the chilled Kamchatka Peninsula in the east. Unification Act of 1745 Before setting out on a massive conquest for the Russian Empire, Romanov first saw it necessary to unite the people of Russia. All land west of the Ural Mountains was already unified under the Russian flag. However, in the Asiatic lands to the east of the Ural Mountains remained scattered. In the frozen barren landscape of Siberia, native Russian tribes were isolated, many of which even unaware of the new Tsar. Further to the south, on the land bordering the Mongol steppes, nomadic tribes were also in disarray In February of 1745, Tsar Romanov addressed this issue by setting forth the Unification Act. The same month, Romanov himself traveled to the edges of the current Russian Empire, to tell the tribal outcasts of the Tsar's rule. Accompanying him was hundreds of royal guards, various advisors (in January of 1745, Romanov had done away with the Russian Congress, leaving all power to the Tsar himself and his advisors), and Mikhail Sebastian Aleksandr Volkov, the previous Tsar who had remained in Russia, and was recently named heir. The trip included stops at destinations such as, in order, the sea-faring dwellers along the Black Sea to the south, the nearby tribes in the Caucasus Mountains, Muslim isolates near modern Kazakhstan, tribal mountain-dwellers of the Urals, various barbaric tribes in Siberia and surrounding regions, and finally the serfs, in isolated villages near the Mongolian and Chinese border. On this trip, Tsar Romanov himself spoke to these outcasts of the empire (sometimes a linguist was needed). On one particular stop, while addressing the Turkik Orok tribe of southern Siberia, Romanov rallied the crowd in one of his most influential speeches. The speech has been recorded by a witness, and an excerpt reads: ''"My friends of Siberia. On the gold-lined streets of Sankt-Peterburg, men sleep in palaces, drink fine wine, and dine like nobles. Meanwhile, you brave life in this frozen tundra, something no Sankt-Peterburger can do. But, I assure you, as the new Tsar has risen, salvation is on the way! Your prizes will soon arrive, my brothers, and, as long as you remain loyal to the greatness that is the Holy Tsardom of Russia, you will prosper! Long live Russia!" Founding of Khabarovsk and the Ussuri Highway As a result of the Unification Act of 1745, all of Russia, from St. Petersburg to the Bering Strait, was now aware of the new Tsar's rule. Villages all across the land paid homage to their leader by sending food, wood, workers, and soldiers to St. Petersburg. At the end of the great tour of Russia, the Tsar and his companions soon found themselves at their final destination: the Sea of Okhotsk. To symbolically unify Russia once and for all, the Tsar ordered many colonies to be built in this region, at the extreme eastern edge of the Russian Empire. Most notable of these colonies was the city of Khabarovsk, settled not far from the Manchurian border of China. Khabarovsk would not become legendary for the city itself, but what would later came out of it. The city was founded May 15, 1745. The next day, the Tsar made the two-and-a-half month trip back to St. Petersburg. He arrived back in St. Petersburg in late July that year, when another problem had come into account. Despite the construction of the Okhotsk colonies, they were still isolated from the western world. As a result, Romanov ordered the construction of a massive highway to stretch from the newly built colony of Khabarovsk in the far east to Moscow and St. Petersburg in the west, while passing through notable cities such as Krasnoyarsk and Novosibirsk in central Russia. The Tsar hired a team of world-class engineers to design this massive highway. Among these engineers was Italian architect Francesco Bartolomeo Rastrelli, who would do later architectural work with Romanov as well. On August 8, 1745, the plans were complete for the building of the Ussuri Highway, as it was to be called. Construction began the following day, in St. Petersburg. Word soon spread out across Russia of the highway, and tens of thousands of serfs from hundreds of villages and towns pitched in. Astonishingly, it took a little less than a year for the project to be completed. When it was finally complete on July 29, 1746, trade and communication increased rapidly between St. Petersburg and the eastern regions. Russia had been united. Building an Army With Russia now united, Romanov now had full control over the entire Russian Tsardom. Although vast in land, the Russian empire was only second in size in the world; being beat out by none other than the massive British Empire. Determined to make his mark in history, Tsar Romanov then set out on a massive conquest to claim the largest empire in history. First, he would need a world-reknowned army. Already, the Tsar was in command of a sizable force of Kievan Cossacks headquartered in St. Petersburg. However, this was not nearly enough to expand to the empire of the Tsar's dreams. Romanov took immediate action. He put the burden of constructing a massive force upon his Minister of War, Dmitri Kamenev. Kamenev, to achieve this, passed the Administrative Act of 1746, which stated all male citizens under the Russian empire are required to enlist in the Russian Military, between the ages of 18 and 60. To further carry the Act out, Kamenev dispatched dozens of messengers to announce the new act in rural villages across the empire, via the newly announced Ussuri Highway. By January of 1747, Romanov had assembled an army of 50,000 soldiers, coming from various locations of the empire. Still, this was not the size Romanov had hoped for, and he demanded more. He then turned to other allied nations of the world, such as their British counterparts, France, Prussia, and the Ottoman Empire to the south. Paying a total of 240,000 kopeks among each of the said nations, Romanov acquired more than 25,000 mercenaries to add to his growing army. Lastly, Kamenev selected Fyodor Veselovsky as commander-in-chief of the newly reformed Russian Imperial Army. The Baltic Campaign In 1747, his army completed, Romanov set out to wage the largest imperial conquest in history. In the years that followed, the history and fate of Russia would be written in blood and greed. First, Romanov turned to the west, at the trio of nations that lie within easy reach of Russia: the Baltic states. Conquering them would insure a steady foothold in the European scene. Estonia Less than 200 miles southwest of Russia's capitol St. Petersburg, was the weak sovereign nation of Estonia. Below Estonia, two other nations lie: Latvia and Lithuania, both of which were outcasted provinces of the strong western Prussian Empire, but nonetheless conquerable. On March 8, 1747, Romanov declared the Baltic Campaign to begin underway, and ordered General Veselovsky to march 22,000 Russian soldiers and mercenaries through the Estonian countryside, burning villages and sacking cities until they came upon the Estonian capitol at Reval. However, Romanov was unaware of a vital detail: the Estonian government was allied with the growing Swedish Empire to the north. The King of Estonia, Ülemeste Savisaar, had already become aware of the soon-to-invade Russians and called upon his Swedish allies for aid. Three days later, Swedish forces arrived in Reval's harbours from Stockholm. The sizable Swedish-Estonian combined army then mobilized to the country's border with Russia, where they sat in wait of the Russian invaders. Marching south from St. Petersburg, Veselovsky reached the Estonian border on March 14. Much to his surprise, he was met there by the slightly smaller (yet nonetheless challenging) Swedish-Estonian forces. After short negotiations and all terms of truce were thrown away, it was confirmed a battle would soon ensue. Veselovsky and his army made camp outside of the Russian village of Ivangorod. Early in the morning of March 15, a small dispatch of Swedish-Estonian scouts crossed the border into Russia, and detected the Russian army asleep outside Ivangorod. Before sunrise, the main Swedish-Estonian army had also crossed over, and ambushed the sleeping Russians. Surprisngly and miraculously, only a small number of Russians were killed in the ambush, and it wasn't long at all until Veselovsky was able to call his men to arms. A short skirmish took place in the camp near Ivangorod, before the larger Russian army was able to route the smaller Swedish-Estonian army back across the border. Rather than wait, Veselovsky decided to press the attack. Hours later, he directed the Russian Army across the Estonian border as well, and a much larger battle ensued. It was the first major battle during Romanov's long reign, and marked the beginning of his thirst for conquest. The battle would become known as the Battle of Narva, for it was fought in the town of Narva not far from the border. It wasn't long into the battle before it was realized the Russians were the superior force. The Swedish-Estonian army had no choice but to quickly switch to defensive maneuvers. By noon, the Estonian defenders had been pushed back by the powerful Russian army, that Narva soon fell into Russian hands. Estonian reinforcements from Reval had failed to arrive, and the Swedish-Estonians feared the worst. By evening of the same day, the Estonian army had no choice but to surrender. The Estonian's main army out of the way, and minimal damage done to his own army, Veselovsky pushed onward to Reval. For only three days the city was sieged, until it finally fell on March 18. Tsar Romanov himself saw to the city's capture, and ordered the Estonian king, Savisaar, to be executed. In less than a fortnight, a nation had fell, and an empire had been born. Latvia Almost a month after the conquest of Estonia, Romanov ordered Veselovsky to march his army into Latvia, posing a threat to the loosely-controlled Prussian province. Romanov had had his eye on Latvia ever since he first came to power, mostly because the abundance of limestone in the country (which was vital for the construction of buildings in St. Petersburg), and also Riga, the Latvian capitol, which Romanov believed to act as a major seaport in his empire. However, upon speaking with his advisors, Romanov decided a ground assault on the Latvian capitol would not be best, but rather, an amphibious one. On April 11, 1747, Romanov's Minister of the Navy, Iosuf Sedova, appointed Sergei Patrushev as fleet admiral of the Russian Western Naval Fleet, and the man to lead the amphibious assault. Patrushev was an ex-Russia privateer captain best known for his work plundering against Danish, Finnish, Norse, and Swedish port towns in the Baltic and North Seas. He accepted the duty as fleet admiral, but suggested an addition to the battle plan: while he was to lead a naval assault on Riga, Veselovsky and his legions could attack from the north, ergo creating a two-prong attack. It was risky, but Romanov and his advisors decided it was a brilliant plan. On April 16, Admiral Patrushev launched a naval fleet forty ships strong from the Estonian port of Pärnu, making sail for Riga only a few days a way. Simultaneously, Veselovsky and an army estimated at 15,500 strong, marched south from Tallinn, toward the Latvian border. Upon crossing the border, Veselovsky met little resistance. Capturing every village as they went, the Russian army marched on to Riga. Meanwhile, on April 18, Patrushev and his fleet were nearly upon Riga when they gained the attention of Karnikava: the Latvian naval base. Although much smaller than the Russian fleet, the Latvian armada caught Patrushev by surprise, and managed to obliterate a fraction of his fleet. After a day-long battle, Patrushev was able to repel the Latvian fleet, and, while taking heavy losses, decided to press on the assault rather than fall back. Early the next morning, April 19, the Russian armada sailed up the wide Ridzene River and began to heavily bombard Riga. Around noon, Veselovsky arrived at Riga as well, and ordered a charge on the city from the north. Rather than repel the naval blockade placed on the city from Patrushev, the Prussian militia army inhabiting the city went for Veselovsky and his invading horde. Surprised at how well trained the Prussians were, the Russian army was pushed back away from the city, all the way to the village of Bukulti. Patrushev saw this as great oppurtunity, and ordered his armada to cease the bombardment, and land on the rocky shores of Riga. The amphibious assault was to begin. The Battle of Bukulti still waging between Veselovsky and the unlikely Prussian forces, the next day the Latvians celebrated, thinking the attack to be successfully repeled. However, around noon of April 20, a force of 4,000 Russian marines, being led by Patrushev himself, stormed the Latvian capitol. The Prussian Grand Duke of the city, Rik Usakovs, was captured in an attempt to flee the city. He was imprisoned. Upon Riga's capture, the Prussian army engaged with Veselovsky had no choice but to fall back to the city, in an attempt to recapture it. However, upon their retreat, Veselovsky ordered a final charge, and the Prussian army was slaughtered outside Bukulti. The Russian army took a heavy cost, though, losing about 5,000 men in that battle. Patrushev was awarded a medal of honour for his valiant taking of the city, and was appointed the permanent fleet admiral of Russia. Lithuania Immediatly following the conquest of Latvia, a message arrived on April 24 to St. Petersburg, addressed to Romanov himself. The message was sent by Archbishop Otto Levi Hirsch, grand duke of the Prussian Empire in Vestpec. In the letter, Hirsch requested a meeting between Romanov and his ministers, and the Prussian government. The site of the meeting was to be in the small village of Nystad, Latvia. Romanov agreed to the meeting, and immediatly sent for a courier. Expecting Hirsch to be furious for taking his province of Latvia by force, Romanov attended the negotiations two weeks later, on May 4. Accompanying him was the heir to the throne, Mikhail Volkov, his Minister of War, Dmitri Kamenev, the general of his army, Fyodor Veselovsky, and his Minister of Foreign Relations, Nikolai Luski. Also in attendance was Romanov's newly appointed imperial governors of Estonia and Latvia: Igor Leonov and Pyotr Naumenko, respectively. Rather than angry, Archbishop Hirsch was actually quite pleased to meet with the Russian dignataries, and welcomed them warmly. After three days of negotiations, the Treaty of Nystad was passed on May 7, 1747. The basic terms of the treaty stated a lasting ally-ship between the Russians and the Prussians, in which both must defend the other during times of war. It also stated the two would offer economic aid during dire times, as well as provide each other with mercenaries or whatever resources they required upon demand. Most importantly, though, territorial debates were settled. Hirsch proposed that Russia would be allowed to keep Latvia, and gain Lithuania, if, in return they helped Prussia defeat their enemies to the north, Sweden, and gain their land for the Prussian empire. Also, Prussia would take the remainder of Poland. The two nations would split Finland. Having a dislike for the Swedish Empire due to their resistance during the conquest of Estonia, Romanov agreed to everything. However, Romanov also demanded a small fragment of northeastern Poland, where a major Russian city would be constructed. This city would act as a demilitarization zone for Prussia and Russia, as well as serve as a trade post linking Russia to the rest of the western world. Hirsch agreed, and gave Russia a 215 square kilometre block of land along the Polish coast, just south of now-Russian Lithuania. In this area, Romanov appointed one of his best architects, Vasili Kalinin, to construct the city. When construction was complete in October of 1749, Romanov was so impressed by Kalinin's work, he named the city Kaliningrad. Now with Lithuania annexed, Romanov appointed Luk'yan Pankov as governor of the imperial Russian province. In addition, he built the empire's second largest military headquarters (only behind St. Petersburg) in the Lithuanian city of Kaunas, as well as built over fifty industrial factories in the Lithuanian capitol of Vilnius. These factories would produce over 7,000,000 weapons for the Russian army during Romanov's reign, making it the largest provider of weaponary in the empire. The Russo-Turkish War War with Sweden Staying true to the Treaty of Nystad, Russia entered war with Sweden in late November of 1749, joining the Prussians. Already, Sweden was in an economic downfall, and suffered heavily from Prussian forces. Their capitol at Stockholm had been beseiged, and fell within days. Despite all of this, Sweden forces under King Charles XII retaliated, and were on the verge of finally beating back their Prussian counterparts. From Helsinki (for Russia had gained Helsinki in the Treaty of Nystad), Romanov ordered a massive army led by Veselovsky to aid the Prussians in attacking the Swede's newly announced capitol at Ostersund, much further to the north. Upon arrival in Sweden, the port of Omskoldsvik was immediatly captured by Veselovsky without a shot fired. The Russian army then marched on for a week through the Swedish tundra, before meeting up with Prussian forces at the captured village of Stugun. Once there, it had been discovered that the Prussian fieldmarshal, General Frederick Holstein, had been shot by Swedish scouts days before. In a state of disarray, the Prussians had been leaderless, and feared advancing any further to attack Ostersund. Seeing as the Prussian army was neccessary for victory, Veselovsky admitted the entire army under his command. They spent the night in Stugun, before marching on to Ostersund the next morning, November 29. Due to Swedish spies, word of the Russian-Prussian attack had been brought to Ostersund in advance. It was clear that the remaining Swedish army would be soon defeated by the massive combined force of Russian and Prussia. Even still, King Charles XII ordered all remaining Swedish forces (only about 4,000 strong) to defend the city from the Russian-Prussian army (about 16,000 strong). Shortly after, Charles XII and his wife fled the city. Later the evening, the combined Russians and Prussians reached the walls of Ostersund, where they were met by the much smaller Swedish army, who was outnumbered four to one. Despite their size, the Swedish fought vigilantly, spanning the battle well into the night. This historic battle would become known as the Battle of Storsjon, named for the island near Ostersund on which most of the battle was fought. During the battle, Veselovsky had been shot in the upper shoulder by Swedish musket-fire, and was pulled out from battle. His secondary general, Lieutenant General Seymon Tsereteli, was then given command of his army. Around four o'clock the next morning, Tsereteli ordered a final charge on Ostersund. An hour later, the Swedish forces, now down to about 800 men, tired, hungry, cold, and wounded, surrendered. The following day, November 30, Veselovsky (fully recovered from his injury), seeing there was no more Swedish resistance, ordered numerous scouting parties comprised of Russians and Prussians alike to search the nearby regions for the escaped Swedish king. After days of searching, he was not found. Veselovsky and the Russians returned to St. Petersburg, as the Prussians returned to Stockholm to officially claim Sweden. King Hirsch of the Prussians personally traveled to St. Petersburg in late December, to thank the Tsar for staying true to his part of the deal. At last, Latvia and Lithuania had been paid off. However, new problems amassed for the Russians. King Charles XII, the Swedish king who had escaped Ostersund, had made his way south to the Ottoman Empire, steadfast allies of the Swedish. In the Ottoman capitol of Istanbul, Charles XII sought refuge from Sultan Ahmet III of the Turks. He told Ahmet III of the Russians and Prussians who had "burned his Sweden to the ground," and pleaded his Ottoman brethren help him get his revenge. On January 4, 1750, the Ottoman Empire declared war on Russia and Prussia. The War Begins Later that month, Ottoman warships launched an assault on the Russian port of Sudak, located in the southern Crimea overlooking the Black Sea. Crimean militia as well as reinforcements from Kherson and Odessa were able to prevent the Turks from completely sacking the town, but the Russians suffered a defeat nonetheless. In the waxing months of the war, the grand-admiral of the Ottoman fleet in the Black Sea, Admiral Aydin Reis, would be viewed as a menace in Russian society, as he would often make guerilla raids on Russian ports at unpredictable times. To counter this, Romanov ordered the construction of a naval armada in the Black Sea. The fleet was completed and christened on March 13, and was known as the Black Sea "Morskoya Flota" (Naval Force). It was headquartered in the Crimean city of Sevastopol, with a secondary base in Odessa. Minister of War Dmitri Kamenev selected young admiral Pyotr Chernienko as the fleet admiral of the newly constructed armada. On March 27, having suffered Turkish raids in Kerch, Anapa, and Sochi, Chernienko decided to retaliate, and deliver a crushing blow to the Ottomans. Seeing it was too early to directly attack the Ottoman capitol at Istanbul, Chenienko first targeted the port city of Sinop, only sixty miles northeast of the Turks' naval headquarters, Samsun. The Russian invasion of Sinop was unexpected by the Ottomans, and they were ergo ill-defended. For two days (April 2 - April 4) the city was bombarded by Russian warships. By the time Ottoman man-o-wars arrived from Samsun, the Russians had completely burned Sinop, and were well on their way back to Sevastopol. Infuriated, Reis ordered the Turkish fleet to pursue the Russians. Chernienko soon learned of the Ottoman advance, and knew right then he would have to fight. Seeing his fleet could not safely reach Sevastopol, he instead ported at the Crimean port of Yalta. However, the Turks followed soon after, and on April 8, 1750, the Battle of Yalta began, the first major battle of the war. The entire first day of the battle commenced in open waters off the coast of Yalta. Chernienko, about 150 ships and 1,750 marines strong, faced Reis, about 210 ships and 2,200 marines strong. Despite being outnumbered, the first day of the battle ended in a stalemate, as both naval factions were equally matched. The second day of the battle was much less unfortunate for the Russians. Because of an illness Chernienko had developed overnight, he was unable to lead his fleet in battle and instead sent Vice-Admiral Gregori Grachev in his place. Unexperienced, Grachev was unable to repel the Ottoman fleet any longer, and around noon, the Turks broke through the Russian naval blockade around Yalta. Ottoman marines came ashore and assaulted the city. Militia and other miscellaneous Russian soldiers held the city for several hours before, around daybreak, Yalta fell to Turkish hands. The next morning, however, luck was soon in favour of the Russians. Infantry regiments (estimated to be 2,500 men strong) arrived in Yalta from Kiev and Odessa. From the rocky ridges surrounding the city, they laid siege to the Ottomans in an attempt to retake Yalta. However, the Turks fought back and a bloody battle soon ensued through the city streets. Meanwhile, naval reinforcements from Sevastopol arrived to aid the defeated Russian Black Sea Fleet. They once again surrounded the city, and pinned the Ottomans down, ruining any chances of escape. With Chernienko once more in good health, he ordered all his surviving marines (as well as thoughs that had arrived in reinforcements) to charge the city from sea to the south, while the infantry continued to battle from land in the north. All in all, about 1,600 men died on either side. Ottoman admiral Aydin Reis himself was killed during the battle. By the end of the day (April 10), Yalta had been retaken. All Ottoman soldiers surrendered and were taken prisoner. Romanov had been pleased by the final outcome of the battle, and ordered 18,000 soldiers to make their way to the Crimea, in the high (almost sure) possibility of another Turkish invasion. The war had begun, and the Russians soon learned their Turkish counterparts to the south were not ones to be under-estimated. The Caucasus Campaign As numerous naval battles waged in the Black Sea, Tsar Romanov, Prince Proktor Volkov, and Minister of War Kamenev met in Moscow in early June to discuss a method of how this war was to be won. After days and nights of new proposals and discussions, a new idea was soon decided. This idea would be code-named "Operation Tempestus", more commonly known as the Caucasus Campaign. General Veselovsky and the Russian Army (which had nearly doubled in size since the Baltic Campaign) was to march through the Caucasus Mountains on the Russo-Georgian border (Georgia was then a province of the Ottoman Empire), march on to Asia Minor itself, proceed along the northern coast burning all towns as they went, and finally land a final assault on Istanbul, while Chernienko's navy offered additional support. On June 15, 1750, Operation Tempestus went into effect. After a brief garrison in Volgograd, Veselovsky and a force of 35,000 men marched down the banks of the Volga River until they reached the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains. With trade passages and highways already drilled into the mountains, navigating through the Caucasus range would usually be no trouble for an army such as Veselovsky's. However, blizzards and other storms (even in June) made any passage through the mountains impossible. The Russian Army made camp near the village of Tyrnyauz, where they were pinned for three months. Meanwhile, in the Black Sea theatre, after a series of Turkish raids on Russian ports (including a successful bombardment on Odessa), Admiral Chernienko was fired on July 8. Taking his spot was Admiral Sergei Patrushev, the same man who had succeeded in the invasion of Riga during the Baltic Campaign. Patrushev, an ex-Russian privateer, knew the Black Sea well, thus making him a reliable candidate for the position as the fleet admiral of the Black Sea Morskoya Flota. Kuz'ma Zharykin was hired by Kamenev as fleet admiral of the Baltic Morskoya Flota, the position formally held by Patrushev. After three months of camping at the foothills of the Caucasus Mountains, passage through the inclement range was finally allowed on September 5. It only took the massive Russian Army two weeks to scale the Caucasuses, before arriving in the Ottoman province of Georgia, completely undetected. Under Veselovsky's order, the army successfully sacked the village of of Svipi. The village was then used as a rendevouz point for the Russians, before they would march into Turkish territory. Long before their planned invasion of the Ottoman countryside, Veselovsky had already arranged for a messanger from his army to send a report to a Russian "client" living in Turkey of their progress. On September 29, Veselovsky dispatched the messanger, sending him to the village in which the client lived. The client, named Zotov, resided in the coastal town of Arhavi, not far from the Georgian border. However, Ottoman intel soon discovered the man's allegience to the Russians, and on October 1, raided his house, taking him prisoner (he was killed the next day in an attempt to escape his captors). A week later, the messanger Veselovsky had sent arrived in Arhavi, only to find Zotov dead. The messanger too was then captured, and the vital message fell into Ottoman hands. The message told of a Russian invasion of the eastern Turkish countryside. Upon reading this, the Ottomans immediatly planned a retaliation. From their eastern military base of Erzurum, they ordered an army roughly 28,000 strong to assemble at the Georgian border, to lie in wait of Veselovsky and his force of 35,000. Black Sea Theatre Meanwhile, battles waged between the Russian and Turkish navies. Sergei Patrushev had been mortally wounded at the Battle of Constanta, and Abram Malikov was hired to take his spot as fleet admiral of the Black Sea Morskoya Flota. Malikov, a seasoned veteran known for his fighting during the Warring States (he was a leading general at the Battle of Novgorod), initially had little success fighting the Turks in the Black Sea. Rather than fire Malikov, Kamenev proposed a new idea to turn the tide of the war: piracy. Kamenev's intentions were to pay pirates to act as privateers for Russia, and raid vital Turkish ports in the Black Sea. Romanov thought the idea to be brilliant. However, seeing no buccaneers in the Black Sea would choose to be loyal to Russia over the Ottomans, they turned their heads to the Caspian Sea, home to a Russian Pirate Lord named Borya Palachnik. On August 30, They bribed Palachnik and his crew an estimated 20,000 rubles to side with the Russians against the Turks. Palachnik agreed, and with a crew as large as 4,000 men, crossed over to the Black Sea. In addition, Ukrainian pirates from Odessa, Sevastopol, and Kerch, as well as Russian pirates from Tuapse and Sochi also enlisted as privateers. More to come... Category:Fan Stories Category:POTCO